Basic LED Question about wattage output

so on the specs on all these LED's (including 2 units I own) the input voltage is described as 110-265 VAC


So i plugged a Kill-A-Watt meter into the Led's I own (rated 360 W each) and they are only drawing about 165 W each (on120V really 110 for most of us) so IF I up the voltage to 240 (really 220 for most of us), will the light output double?

Are they Chinese led panels? I don't see how it would draw more wattage on a 220v, volts aren't the same as watts.

grapeoptimo said:

so on the specs on all these LED's (including 2 units I own) the input voltage is described as 110-265 VAC
View attachment 2980349

So i plugged a Kill-A-Watt meter into the Led's I own (rated 360 W each) and they are only drawing about 165 W each (on120V really 110 for most of us) so IF I up the voltage to 240 (really 220 for most of us), will the light output double?

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no. the light out put stays the same as there is only so many diodes and driven less than 50%

The light will just use half the amps and slightly less watts.

Yep they will dissipate the same regardless of input voltage. The reason they are drawing so much less than the advertised rating is because many sellers flat out lie.

On the other hand you would not want them to actually dissipate 360 watts because running them twice as hard would decrease the efficiency to levels less than fluoro. The design could not handle the heat which would decrease efficiency very badly again. High junction temps would also cause rapid lumen depreciation, a large and permanent loss of efficiency. For our purposes, best to run LEDs as soft as you can afford.

so i guess they are just crappy leds that dont output what they say then. none the less they do grow plants

grapeoptimo said:

so i guess they are just crappy leds that dont output what they say then. none the less they do grow plants

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Don't beat yourself up. Most Chinese panels are marketed using the simplistic, but false "number of diodes X maximum current those diodes can handle" methodology. As Supra mentions, you don't want them running at full steam because they wouldn't last long. So it's not that you were totally ripped off, it's just that you have to re-adjust your expectations of what can be accomplished.

I'm under the impression that a lot of LED drivers can take a wide range of input voltage, as you noticed on yours. It certainly makes sense for the manufacturer. They don't have to make different units for US vs. Europe, etc. Just build 'em and ship 'em.

grapeoptimo said:

so on the specs on all these LED's (including 2 units I own) the input voltage is described as 110-265 VAC
View attachment 2980349

So i plugged a Kill-A-Watt meter into the Led's I own (rated 360 W each) and they are only drawing about 165 W each (on120V really 110 for most of us) so IF I up the voltage to 240 (really 220 for most of us), will the light output double?

Click to expand...

This is typical of chinese/knock-off LED's. Some are worse than others. I have a few of them, you just have to be aware of how they market them (cheesy/aggressive/outright lies). Top tier lines like A51 market say a "190" panel that will actually output 190W (or more). If these were chinese, they would be marketed as "300" to even "400". Typically, they just take the number of LED's x the maximum wattage output per LED (e.g. 3W) and multiply that to come up with the number they use. So your "360W" is likely around 120x3W LED's, yet they're never driven full out or they'd last a month, if that. The typical "real" wattage out of these chinese/e-bay LED's is 2/3 of what they claim, yours is low even on the e-Bay scale
Just beware of marketing hype and adjust your expectations as to what that light can do based on actual output. If you were trying to grow more than 1-2 plants with 165W you're not going to get much out of it. I like to play with this shit and I'm not in it for the money so I've tried a few and think I've found one brand that will likely stick around to veg gong forward. Then I'll be buying either an Inda-Gro Induction or A51 to flower with as I don't think these chinese panels can cut it in flowering, other than supplemental. Even the first one I tried though did quite well and even beyond my expectations in veg, not all's lost, just don't try to grow out 3-4 plants with it or you'll be disappointed.
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GroErr said:

This is typical of chinese/knock-off LED's. Some are worse than others. I have a few of them, you just have to be aware of how they market them (cheesy/aggressive/outright lies). Top tier lines like A51 market say a "190" panel that will actually output 190W (or more). If these were chinese, they would be marketed as "300" to even "400". Typically, they just take the number of LED's x the maximum wattage output per LED (e.g. 3W) and multiply that to come up with the number they use. So your "360W" is likely around 120x3W LED's, yet they're never driven full out or they'd last a month, if that. The typical "real" wattage out of these chinese/e-bay LED's is 2/3 of what they claim, yours is low even on the e-Bay scale
Just beware of marketing hype and adjust your expectations as to what that light can do based on actual output. If you were trying to grow more than 1-2 plants with 165W you're not going to get much out of it. I like to play with this shit and I'm not in it for the money so I've tried a few and think I've found one brand that will likely stick around to veg gong forward. Then I'll be buying either an Inda-Gro Induction or A51 to flower with as I don't think these chinese panels can cut it in flowering, other than supplemental. Even the first one I tried though did quite well and even beyond my expectations in veg, not all's lost, just don't try to grow out 3-4 plants with it or you'll be disappointed.
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Yup I agree. Very true, but they are learning that we all now know the truth, I run my own LED Growing/testing forum and have had good results from various Chinese models at the moment. But....out of the hundreds of thousands of them on sale, I still would prefer to go with a local based supplier who offers a long warranty. Theres only one Chinese LED that I really like and is performing really well at the moment in a test grow.

Yeah, definitely a buyer beware warning if you can't afford to loose anything, definitely not something recommended if you're on a tight budget. That's cool, would love to check out your forum if you can send a link. My take at the moment is they definitely have a spot in my room for vegging. I'll be vegging my next round with the one's I settled on to use them through a full cycle (last couple of cycles I switched different lights so not good for comparison). I picked up a few of these: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Reflector-IR-300w-Led-Grow-Light-Growth-Flower-Switch-Best-LED-Grow-Lamp-Panel-/151223498393 [2x "150W" (98W actual), 1x "300" (192W actual), and 2x "450" (306W actual)], on e-bay auctions at an average of $0.85 per actual watt, not a huge investment, about $850 for close to 1000 watts draw (or "1,500 WATTS" in chinese terms - lmao). They have veg/bloom switches so the smaller one's are good for clones/seedlings/early veg when turned down. They also have a decent reflector design so they're much brighter and bigger spread than the others I tried. Build quality isn't terrible but not top notch either, had to open one to screw the hanging screws in properly I'd love to buy local but in my area there's nothing viable, the local shops are a joke, selling chinese lights at $2-$3/watt, yeah, no... When it comes to flowering, they could flower but I wasn't impressed and will be giving either A51 or Inda-Gro a shot at flowering next round. I doubt I can swing it, but if I can manage it with space and timelines I may try a side-by-side, let a few plants go full cycle with the chinese lights, and flower some with A51 or Inda-Gro to compare the final quality/yield. I need a decent yield and quality next round so I can have a good med stash (and pay for the next round of "toys") lol. On warranty, these have a supposed 3-year warranty, again supposedly they'll ship you replacement parts, not counting on it but I was impressed with this vendor over all other vendors I've ever used on e-Bay so they may yet surprise me... Now back to finishing my new grow room so I can try all this stuff out

Its both surprising and disheartening really. When I first started shopping for a led grow light I actually found that even the big US brands advertise at higher wattages than the real draw. From what ive seen almost all companies (Almost all) advertise close to Double the Actual wattage. At first I thought it was just the china led's until I started looking at more expensive high-end units from american companies and realized they DO IT TOO! Definitely have to read the fine print so to speak.